Koreans and 'Palestinians'
The day before I came to the US, a Korean-born student at Virginia Tech University murdered 32 fellow students in the largest mass murder committed by one individual in American history. How have Koreans reacted? This is from the Korea Herald:Hat Tip: Political Mavens via Nathan in Teaneck New Jersey
Many Koreans were dumbfounded and felt ashamed when they learned a Korean student shot dead more than 30 people at the university. This first reaction was followed by concerns about a potential backlash against the Korean community in the United States, and against Korea as a nation.Compare the Korean reaction with the 'Palestinian' reaction to 9/11. Is it any wonder why Americans still have warm feelings for the Koreans, while feeling indifference or worse towards the 'Palestinians' (Dhimmi Carter excepted)?
Apparently, behind these reactions is a sense of collective guilt the Korean people feel about the heinous crime committed by a fellow Korean. Koreans, having traditionally been trained to think of themselves as members of a family, a group and a nation, rather than as individuals, have shouldered collective responsibility for the slayings and feared Koreans residing in the United States would soon be targets of reprisal attacks in an ethnic conflict.
But almost all of the scores of emails that we at The Korea Herald received from the United States reassured us that there will be no racial, political or other forms of retribution against Korea and Koreans. The writers made efforts to convince us that ethnicity had no place in the crime, and that it was committed by a deranged individual who happened to be Korean.
Among the emails is one from Kathy L. Cronin, who wrote: "Please convey to the people of Korea that America is a vast and diverse nation of vast and diverse backgrounds, opinions, abilities, and mental aptitude. There may be individuals who voice an opinion which 99.999 percent of the people in America would vehemently disavow."
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:30 PM
2 Comments:
I thought about this too, how the South Korean's react compared to Arab reactions and how that has played an effect. In America we hold tremendous respect for many Asian cultures because of things like this.
I wrote three postings on this very topic.
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